Voice of Conscience

Check out the webcast of the final plenary, where South African activist Kumi Naidoo of Civicus and the Global Call to Action Against Poverty chastized the World Economic forum for not doing enough to address poverty and inequality.

Naidoo wore a white headband which he called the "symbol of global mobilization of all citizens of the world."

Quoting Gandhi, he said: "This planet has enough to meet all of humanity's need but not all of humanity's greed." Naidoo said the WEF should do more to address the problem of over-consumption by the developed world, and pointed out that the amount of money spent by Americans and Western Europeans on pet food alone could solve all the nutritional needs of Africa.

From a development perspective, Naido views the Iraq war as a tremendous mis-direction of political will and misallocation of resources. "We from the developing world feel a deep sense of pain that huge amounts of money can be mobilized very quickly for an action that didn't have the support of the majority of citizens on the planet," he said.

He praised the forum's emphasis on Africa this year, but cautioned: "when we talk about Africa and the people of Africa, we must talk about them with dignity and not as basket cases." 

For more information about the final plenary session, see the official forum website writeup here.

Comments

[likwidshoe]

He praised the forum's emphasis on Africa this year, but cautioned: "when we talk about Africa and the people of Africa, we must talk about them with dignity and not as basket cases."

Basket cases without freedom. That's the source of their wealth woes - a lack of freedom. Maybe he should look at the Iraq war (which he unduly criticizes) and realize that by spreading freedom, we are spreading wealth.

[Kelly Lawrence]

We must continue to lift up our voices!